A Pennsylvania woman’s beloved pug dog is dead, and a man she met on a dating app has admitted he killed the animal because the dog’s owner rejected him. The woman is relieved to finally know what happened to her pet and is now fighting to make sure the man who confessed to the crime faces the consequences.
According to Pittsburgh’s WTAE, the strange story began last year when Chyanne Callender called the police on Jan. 5 to report a burglary at her home in Butler, PA. She told police nothing was taken except her 10-year-old pug, Lexi, whom Callender called her “best friend.” Callender told the police, “I did everything with her, like, absolutely everything.”
Reportedly, Callendar also said the day before her dog disappeared, she broke off her friendship with Joseph Hillard, then 28, a man she said she had met on a dating app. According to Callender, she repeatedly warned Hillard she didn’t want a relationship and had agreed to be friends but decided she wanted Hillard out of her life completely.
“He kept pushing it to where he wanted things to go further, to where he kept trying to force himself onto me, and I didn’t want it,” Callender said, according to The Mirror.
About a week later, Butler police spoke with Hillard’s parents, and they said he lived with mental health issues and could be capable of dog-napping, but they had no reason to believe he did, and they had no idea where the dog was. Hillard also denied any knowledge of what happened to Lexi when police spoke to him.
Callender kept searching for her pet
With the case stalled for lack of evidence, Callender was undeterred and continued searching for Lexi, even offering a reward, all the while suspecting Hillard was responsible. But about a year after the dog disappeared, Hillard showed up at the Butler police station and confessed. He filled out a form stating he broke into her home, took the dog, and killed the animal, specifically telling an officer he wanted Callender to know.
According to Hillard’s arrest affidavit, his statement said, “I found an open window, climbed in, grabbed it and left. I at one point wanted to take it back, but started hitting it in a rage. It was battered pretty good, so I took it to the woods and killed it.” According to Pennlive, Hillard has now been charged with burglary, aggravated cruelty to animals, tampering with evidence, and theft. Lexi’s body has not been found.
Callender launched a justice for Lexi petition
Now that she knows the truth, Callender, who has since left Pennsylvania fearing for her safety, launched a Change.org petition, Justice for Lexi the Pug!, asking for animal cruelty criminal penalties in Pennsylvania to be increased. She says consequences for committing those crimes are currently somewhat lenient, and at this writing, Callender’s petition had around 2,250 signatures.
In the petition, Callender wrote, “We demand that the law takes this crime seriously, and Joseph Hilliard gets the maximum time allowed for his crimes, and Justice for Lexi is ensured. We call for stricter laws and penalties for pets to act as a deterrent for future crimes. This isn’t just about Lexi; this is about every beloved pet and their families who may fall victim to such cruelty.”
Callender also told Butler’s KDKA, “She was a tiny, little dog who was elderly at that. What rage did he go into just because of the fact that he was told no? That’s something his parents should have taught him yes and no and what that means.”
Published: Feb 6, 2025 04:50 pm